Hitler Hitler HITLER!! (And Ex-Gays, too!)

Thou shalt not compare anyone to a Nazi, particularly Hitler. That, it seems, is the cardinal rule of rhetoric, whether your opponent has made a film about global warming or has turned up at the Reichstag fire with a bag of marshmallows.

Indeed, it can be a careless charge to levy. Used casually, stupidly, it sanitizes the Nazis of their earth-shattering horror. Used with any seriousness or accuracy, it is seen as overkill, undercutting the argument and raising ire on all sides of it. Calmer heads will object, almost reflexively, when the Hitler card is played; I have seen endless internal debate on the liberal blogs when the inevitable Nazi/Republican comparisons are made, and this is one of the few things progressives can do that can grab the attention of the establishment media, no matter how misleading the charges can be. You undoubtedly remember the fiasco surrounding the MoveOn video contest, and others.

Calling someone Hitler-like is also one of the few things that just about anyone can demand a public apology for. Depending upon the righteousness of the perpetrator, that apology is not always forthcoming, but anyone on the left or right of the spectrum can get mileage out of the indignant demand.

At this point, I will let you in on a little secret. Just you, Kossites, please don't tell anyone. It probably reveals a hideous flaw in my character and intellect, but I just can't help it:

When a right-wing nutjob starts comparing people like Al Gore to Hitler, I feel the requisite liberal fury. Red-faced, I leap on my chair and insist upon apologies and retractions. I call for political allies of the perpetrator to publicly condemn the statement. I do everything you're supposed to do to gain points for the home team.

But then, god help me, some new outrageous headline will come along and make me think, "Gee, those Republicans are kinda sorta like Nazis." It's wrong, I know, but there I am in all of my hypocritical glory.

I have gone through the trouble of bringing all of this up because confession is good for the soul, and also because there was a case this week in which the Hitler kabuki did not turn out in the way I would have expected. It involves the ex-gay movement, a group of lunatics whose hatred of themselves is so twisted and powerful it could only come through the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

On June 10, ex-gay pastor DL Foster posted a blog entry portraying Wayne Besen as Hitler. Wayne Besen is the founder of Truth Wins OUT, an organization dedicated to countering the anti-gay nonsense propagated by the ex-gay movement and right-wingers in general. He is also Jewish, which makes Foster's words and the photograph of Besen onto which he photoshopped a Hitler moustache particularly appalling.

Foster, who calls himself "an ordinary guy serving an extraordinary God," is not content with a passing reference when comparing a gay activist with the man who murdered millions and millions of people. His entire post drips with a maniacal revulsion. Referring to him as "Herr" Besen, Foster accuses him in paragraph after paragraph of calling for the trains, stoking up the furnaces, and concocting a "Final Solution" for the "exgay problem."

Here is a taste of the wild-eyed tirade:

Enough! [Besen] fumed to himself. I will once and for all stop these exgays and lift America to its rightful place where homosexuality is valued above heterosexuality and gay marriage is the law of the land! And thus, secure his place on the hallowed pages of American history books. Herr Besen's strong aversion to exgays seem to stem from a belief of gay purity. That is to say one can only be worthy of his respect if they are pure gays. Consequently, these men and women who have left homosexuality are traitors and orientation mixers who deserve nothing but scorn and uhh "resettlement" back to gay life via his 10 point plan. If they refuse to go back to being gay, the infamous, drug infested Fire Island Circuit Party Camps await them.

Yesterday, PageOneQ reported that, in a "rare schism" in the ex-gay community, Alan Chambers, head of the largest ex-gay organization, Exodus International, had written the following email and sent it out to an "undisclosed list."

From: "Alan Chambers" [email address redacted]?
To: "Alan Chambers" [email address redacted]?
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 16:10:10 -0400?
Subject: DL Foster/Wayne Besen

Dear Friends,

Surprisingly, I am emailing you today in defense of Wayne Besen. I've not gone mad. Read on.

THIS: http://psimo.blogspot.com is a link to my friend DL Foster's Blog, Perspectives in Motion. While I have great respect and admiration for DL, his most recent posts depicting pro-gay activist Wayne Besen with a Hitler mustache is way over the top--especially considering that Wayne is Jewish.

For those of you who know Wayne, you will agree that he is no friend to our causes. He is brash, offensive and antagonistic. But, Wayne is a man with a heart and someone that God deeply loves. Disagreeing with him is one thing; likening him to Hitler--a man who killed more than 6,000,000 Jews is quite another.

Several of my leaders and I emailed DL about this begging him to remove the likeness and apologize to Wayne. Sadly, others received emails from DL stating that he absolutely won't retract his statements. I find this a terrible witness and fighting dirty. No matter what someone else does, our reaction should never be to viciously attack them.

It is His kindness that leads us to repentance.

Please email DL and post a comment to his Blog by clicking the link above. I imagine your comments will be deleted, as many of ours were, but DL will at least have to read your message.

You might also consider emailing Wayne Besen to let him know that DL doesn't speak for all of us: [e-mail]. My wife and I had Wayne in our home a few years ago and since then have prayed very regularly for him. We believe that God wants the very best for Wayne and we are happy to pray this very simple prayer: "God, please bless Wayne and help him to live out your plan for his life." No agenda, just a prayer.

Best,
Alan Chambers
President
Exodus International

As much as I disapprove of the ex-gay movement in general and Exodus International in particular, I found something touching about this email. One would imagine that, in his line of work, Chambers is used to dealing with crackpots, and perhaps he has a contingency plan for dealing with people like Foster in his desk drawer, always at the ready. But there may be a lesson for us in here somewhere, for how to handle the situation when some of our own may go "too far."

I'm not talking about all of that repentance and praying nonsense, but this guy has stepped up to the plate, stated their difference of opinion, distanced himself from the offensive actions for the record, and still maintained the illusion of goodwill. No blanket condemnations, no flame wars, no eternal agonizing over "meta" message, and nothing really for the press to seize upon with its voracious appetite for conflict.

This may be an extremely rare example of a right-wing weirdo doing the right thing and prospering by it.